| |  | As Bookham's young photographers see us | | |  Bookham Vision photo competitionYoungsters show village's seamy side
Bookham Vision's photo competition delivered more than the organisers bargained for. As reported, Bookham Vision, the team set up to draft the village plan, gave disposable cameras to Bookham's children and asked them to take pictures of the things they liked and disliked about their village.
The 400 entries from youngsters from five to 16 gave what Vision's judges called "a real insight to what Bookham’s young people think about their village." According to Monica Weller, a local associate of the Royal Photographic Society, international photographic judge and member of the Bookham Camera Club, the pictures submitted showed that the children had a strong appreciation of their surroundings and a strong sense of what is good, and what should be nurtured: "There were many worthy entrants with some very colourful and interesting shots."
Local schools, the Library, play areas, St Nicholas’s Church, and the beautiful countryside around Bookham were frequent subjects in the 'likes' category. The most common dislikes were litter, dog poo and busy traffic, say the judges.
The full list of winners in each category for each age group, and their pictures, are shown below. Bookham Vision will be showing the photos on its website and at public meetings.
Pictured at the presentation, made on Bookham's late night shopping evening on December 10, are former Surrey Councillor Jim Smith and Bookham Vision chairman Trevor Sokell (back) with winning snappers (left to right) Lauren Turner, Sam Jones, Zoe Ingold, and Thomas Borett.
 Age 5 – 11 years The best picture of something she liked was taken by LAUREN TURNER, age 9. It is a very colourful picture of the flower bed outside the Co-op in Bookham. It was chosen, say the judges, because it was a very creative and well designed shot taken very much from a child’s perspective and says something very positive about Bookham.
 Younger dislikesThe best picture of something he dislikes was taken by THOMAS BORETT, age 7(front page). It’s a great picture that captures traffic problems in the High Street really well. It has movement, it has cars going head to head – the judge, Monica, considered it a very strong photograph.
 Age Group 12 – 16 yearsThe best picture in this age group of a like was taken by ZOE INGOLD, age 13 . Like many others, Zoe likes the Library. Zoe’s picture captured it beautifully – a good exposure with good light and lots of colour.
 Older dislikesThe best picture of a dislike by a 12-16 year old was taken by SAM JONES, age 12 . Sam. Like many others, doesn’t like dirty paths, and particularly those covered in dog poo! Sam’s shot of this nasty subject was described by Monica as “artistic but pukey”. | | |
| | Vision chairman confirms brilliant survey result | | |  A result no-one dared hope for68%
November 18, 2009: As predicted, the Bookham Vision survey has been an astonishing success. More than two-thirds of the village returned a completed questionnaire.
Trevor Sokell, chairman of Bookham Vision, which issued the questionnaire as part of its task to prepare the village plan, says in the latest Bookham Broadsheet the village's, 161 “Official Collectors” delivered 4,886 surveys and collected 2,492. Over 800 more were dropped off at shops or (only 13!) completed on line. That's a response rate of just over 68 per cent.
Sokell told the Broadsheet, published twice a year by the Bookham Residents' Association, that this was "quite remarkable".
"As a result of this successful effort," he said, "we have much more data to analyse that we ever hoped, and consequently we should get a true reflection of the community at large. But with all this data to handle, it is unlikely we shall be in a position to feed-back results very quickly. It is now likely to be into next year before we have digested it all, and made it suitable for presentation. So please be patient. The results should be worth waiting for."
Meantime, Sokell offered a few scraps of information:
33 of those who worked from home said they would be interested in an entry in a Comprehensive Bookham Business Directory.
67 would be interested in being involved in a Bookham Speed-watch Scheme.
78 would be interested in some voluntary work, or more volunteering.
81 said they would like to be involved in a Transition Towns or Greening initiative.
There were almost 400 entries—two-thirds in the five to 11 years age group—for the children’s competitions. They will receive a disposable camera as a first step in the photographic competition.
What do you think? Tell the editor. | | |
| | Vision returns look good to brilliant, say reports | | | Bookham Vision surveyOctober 8, 2009: Hold your breath – it's early days, but the Bookham Vision survey looks like it will be an astonishing success. Unofficial reports say that, so far, it looks as if the return rate could be above 60 per cent. That's wildly over what such exercises normally achieve. More surprising, perhaps, is that the higher refusal rates came from some of the posher parts of the village, whereas the Middlemead estate returned nearly all its forms. That's a tribute to the hard work of two people—Michelle Tucker and June Boddy who did the whole estate. But then, you don't say no to June.
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| | Your form is your future | | |  Now's your chance to make a differenceYour form is your future
September 6, 2009: A 150-strong squad of volunteers has been delivering Bookham Vision survey questionnaires to every household in Bookham over the weekend.
The village's future turns on what residents say in the completed forms and, crucially, how many villagers fill the forms in by the deadline, only a month away.
BV has printed 5,500 of the detailed questionnaires, one for every household in Bookham. The information in them will be used to develop the village plan.
The questionnaires must be completed and returned by Wednesday, September 30. After that the Bookham Vision team, led by chairman Trevor Sokell, have until the end of the year to go through the responses.
If you don't get a form within the next week, phone Trevor on 01372 452052 or email him on trevorsokell@ukf.net or contact Nick Applegarth on nick.applegarth@btinternet.com or 01372 458456.
Distributing the questionnaires is a much bigger exercise even than the preliminary survey which produced a revealing set of local likes and dislikes earlier this year. But the higher the response rate to the new questionnaire, the more authoritative the village plan will be as the authentic view of the village's inhabitants. A large response will make it more difficult for planning, highways, health and other authorities to take actions which go against the villagers' wishes, or for police to ignore the priorities the community sets for making itself safe.
As reported, school-age residents are at the centre of this stage of the campaign. BV is offering cameras and other prizes to children who make their parents fill in the forms.
Sokell and the BV team are also relying on those who complete the forms to persuade neighbours either side of them to do the same. The 150 volunteers are from the Bookham Residents' Association, the Bookham Community Association and Churches Together, who have asked their magazine distributors and road stewards to help distribute the questionnaires.
Your distributor will also collect your form. But if you want to drop it off in the village, you can do so at Ron Fowler's fish shop in Lower Shott, at the Wishing Well card shop in the High Street, and at the Post Office in Church Road. | | |
| | Date set for collection of survey data | | |  Volunteers needed for BV's big survey launch September launch for village survey
July 26, 2009: Bookham Vision is to make its detailed surveys available at the weekend of September 5 and 6, says chairman Trevor Sokell. The forms must be completed and returned by Wednesday, September 30. "We've then got to the end of the year to plough through [all] the responses," he says.
BV is printing 5,500 of the detailed survey forms, one for every household in Bookham. The information in them will be used to develop the village plan.
This is a much bigger exercise even than the preliminary survey which produced a revealing set of local likes and dislikes earlier this year. It produced, for example, an overwhelming view (shown right) that Bookham should have a one-way system. September's survey will be more detailed and less easy to fill in.
But the higher the response rate to it, the more authoritative the plan will be as the authentic view of the village's inhabitants. A large response will make it more difficult for planning, highways, health and other authorities to take actions which go against the villagers' wishes, or for police to ignore the priorities the community sets for making itself safe.
For now the pressure's on to get the surveys out and distributed. BV is looking for volunteers not just to put the questionnaires through doors, but to collect them, if necessary making more than one visit to make sure they are completed.
Sokell says BV has already involved local schools the Dawnay, the two Eastwicks, Polesden Lacey, Manor House and the Howard of Effinghamin the campaign. Howard head Bob Essex has agreed to help distribute survey forms in the first week of next term, says Sokell. The Howard has about 620 Bookham based students. There are 300 at the Dawnay, probably the same at the two Eastwick schools and 100 at Polesden. The Manor House school has a higher number from outside Bookham.
As reported, school-age residents are at the centre of this stage of the campaign. BV is offering cameras and other prizes to children who make their parents fill in the forms.
"We looked at who needed to be taking part," says Sokell, "and we found that parts of the population haven't responded [to what BV was doing]." The largest group of non-responders were parents, he says, "hence the competition."
Sokell and the BV team are also relying on those who complete the forms to persuade neighbours either side of them to do the same. He wants a small army of people to take on a small section of their road and make them get their pens out. The Bookham Residents' Association, the Bookham Community Association and Churches Together have said they will ask their magazine distributors and road stewards to help distribute the questionnaires. And some of the shops have also offered to help. BV also wants to establish drop-off points where completed questionnaires can be left.
But Sokell wants to cast the net wider. BV is taking space in the Look Local and the Leatherhead Advertiser and there will be a poster competition in the run-up to the launch of the questionnaire. The way Bookham develops is of interest to non-residents as well as natives. He wants the views of those in, say Effingham and Fetcham who use Bookham as well as those who live there to be taken into account. "We want to encourage people who don't live in Bookham but who use it… to complete it as well." They can do this through the Bookham Vision website.
If you need more information, email or call Trevor Sokell on trevorsokell@ukf.net or 01372 452052; or Nick Applegarth on nick.applegarth@btinternet.com or 01372 458456. | | |
| | July 2009 BRA meeting | | |  MiscellanyNo-cold-calling zone 'unenforceable'
Trading standards say Bookham's cold calling area is unenforceable. And door-to-door hawkers are beginning to latch on.
One Bookham resident answered the door to a man who asked if he had a window cleaner. He said he already had one and pointed out that his road was in a no cold calling zone. The caller reacted strongly: "He didn't actually swear at me but he was a very unpleasant character."
The resident phoned trading standards to be told, "that it is unenforceable and that it relies on people's responsibility and cooperation."
Surrey County Council's trading standards department set up a successful pilot scheme in Guildford from 2005 to 2006 involving Surrey Police and Neighbourhood Watch. It started the three cold calling zones in Bookham, Fetcham and Ashtead last autumn.
Cold Calling zones also operate in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Norfolk, Hampshire, Lincolnshire and elswhere. Police and Neighbourhood Watch hope they will cut down the number of doorstep calls, offering less opportunity for "distraction" burglaries – where the householder is kept at the door while someone else is entering at the back – and other crimes.
An evaluation last year showed that the number of reported distraction burglaries and similar crimes in Guildford fell from 64 in 2005/6 to 25 in 2007/8. Police believe there is a direct link between the fall and the introduction of the zones.
Other points from the BRA's July meeting
Mole Valley is to bring some of the services it has outsourced to private contractors back in house, the latest BRA meeting was told. Asked about rumours that Mole Valley would begin to take on grass-cutting in the district, Surrey County Councillor Clare Curran said: "It's still up for discussion. There's nothing going to happen imminently. It's not going to happen this season, but I do think there's progress on that. We've already seen progress of discussions between the county and the district councils over food waste, so there's much more two-way discussion that's going to be fruitful."
Householders who fail to cut their hedges should be charged for the work, suggests local councillor Clare Curran. The trimming is not a cosmetic issue. Local councils are unable to keep up with the backlog of trimming needed to keep roads and pavements clear, and some trees and bushes obscure speed limit and other road signs.
Curran suggested at the BRA committee meeting on July 6 that householders be told if the growth of their trees or hedges are obscuring road signs. They will receive a letter from the local highway authority giving the names of three reputable contractors who can quote to do the work at the householder's expense.
Barn Meadow Lane is one problem area. A pavement near Little Bookham Street is now only a foot wide, commented BRA chairman Peter Seaward. And when the schools come out parents gather on this narrow pavement.
Mole Valley used to cut hedges if pedestrians or others complained but no longer do this work. A letter to householders as proposed would be unlikely to have legal force.
Residents in Eastwick Park Avenue may try to buy the land a developer is unable to build on after an inspector's decision. Residents in Barn Meadow Lane are already exploring such an idea.
An ambulance had to be called for a woman who tripped over uneven paving near the Somerfield supermarket. She had broken her glasses and was completely dazed said John Allen, who had called the ambulance.
The BRA bookstall on Bookham village day raised £1,625 for Bookham Community Association, says John Allen, who organised the stall. This is an increase of £200 on last year's total. The open gardens raised £4,000, compared with £4,500 last year.
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| | Police relieved by sale to unknown 'independent retailer' | | |  Hope for end to anti-social behaviourCo-op, formerly Rusts, to close
June 24, 2009: The Co-operative group is to sell its shop at the top of Bookham High Street to an unknown independent retailer. The shop, formerly a branch of Rusts, was taken over by the Co-op in September 2007 and refurbished last year in Co-op livery. But it looks as if its days as a food retailer may be over.
The Somerfield shop next to the Lower Road car park, also owned by the Co-op, is to be completely revamped, with extra check-outs, more staff, and the installation of external as well as internal CCTV and other security measures to frustrate disorderly shoppers. Somerfield will also begin home deliveries by the end of July, said acting manager Jaso Sitampalam.
The Co-op made its bid for the Somerfield chain in July last year. The Competition Commission allowed the deal to go ahead this March on the condition that the Co-op sell 133 of Somerfield's 977 shops. This was designed to prevent exactly the situation that has arisen in Bookham, with two Co-op-owned supermarkets in the same street.
Since local youngsters tend to gather near shops that, like both supermarkets, sell alcohol, the shops are of interest to the police. But it was Rusts, then, under the same management, the Co-op, that has given the police more concern.  Shop a focus for anti-social behaviourRusts, prevented from selling fresh fruit and vegetables, offered the lowest-price alcohol in the village, and swiftly became the place where young people arriving from Bookham Station stocked up before before they moved on to the Youth Centre on Lower Road.
Though prices are now higher, the price is irrelevant to those prepared to walk into the shop and take drink without paying for it. According to PC John Hench, chairing the first Bookham with Fetcham police forum on June 24 (above right), police were now dealing with eight or nine thefts from the shop, most of which have happened in the early evenings: "People [have] been just walking into the Co-op and walking out with whatever they like."
The thieves would take drink outside, consume it and become abusive, Hench said. Anti-social behaviour had occurred so often that police were treating disorder in and outside the Co-op as a neighbourhood priority issue (NPI). With his usual engaging informality, Hench defined an NPI as, "just something that we focus on a bit more than something else." [see * below]
The Co-op had recently disciplined a member of staff who was allowing the thefts to happen. At a police panel meeting on July 6, Hench noted that a staff member had been issued with an £80 penalty notice for disorder for selling alcohol to someone under the age of 18.
On a number of occasions the police have stressed, however, that the shop has passed 'secret shopper' tests, refusing to sell alcohol to under-age would-be buyers. Early drink-related incidents at the Youth Centre are now few and far between, say local police.
Hench told the forum he had invited both the Co-op and Somerfield to attend and answer any questions local people wanted to raise at the meeting about this or anything else. But although Somerfield acting manager Jaso Sitampalam attended, the Co-op at first agreed but then said they had no-one they could send. "I think it's a real shame because they really need to have someone here to answer some of your questions," said Hench.  PC 'overjoyed' by takeoverHench described the Somerfield revamp and the closure as a supermarket of the former Rusts as "Absolutely great news. I'm overjoyed." Somerfield uses alarm codes to identify and follow shoppers who might be stealing. The local branch has applied to head office for plain clothes detectives to operate in the shop on Fridays and Saturdays.
Hench's praise for Sitalpalam and his fellow staff gives a hint of the kind of cooperation police weren't getting from the Co-op up the road: "They've always been very good with us. They've always been very helpful. If you go in there after an incident, they've got CCTV, they've got everything that we need… I don't want to talk about the Co-op."
Comment
If the independent retailer taking over the old 'Rusts' appears to be good news from a law and disorder point of view, it raises questions about the future of Bookham High Street.
At various stages in the continuing battle to defeat the Blueland supermarket-development proposal for Lower Shott, one defence has been that Bookham high street already has two supermarkets. If one of them disappears that gives a green light for someone else to come in and fill the breach.
* PC Hench denies using these words. He was correctly reported but, to meet his concern for clarity, we reprint below the detailed description of a Neighbourhood Issue given to those attending the forum. Story updated July 7, 2009.
What is a Neighbourhood Priority issue?Neighbourhood Priority Issues (NPIs) or Neighbourhood Issues (NIs) are those issues that matter most to local communities. An issue will be accepted and recorded as an NI if it is identified in one of the following ways:
[] Selected as a priority by vote during a neighbourhood police panel meeting
[] Identified by police during the course of an Environmental Visual Audit
[] Selected as an issue by a recognised stakeholder group (for example, groups regularly consulted by, or working with, police or partners
[] Identified through the Joint Action Group process as a priority
within the Community Safety Strategy
[] Identified as an issue by a formal representative stakeholder (for example, an MP); and
[] Any other issue identified by a public source that is corroborated by independent data or profiling.
What this means for you:
If a local community considers that an issue should be a focus of police attention they can raise it at a meeting with their local officers. If it is decided that this is an issue that police can coordinate problem solving initiatives, a Neighbourhood Issue will be created on the Surrey Police crime reporting system. This will be used to monitor all activities and interventions designed to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of the local community.
Problem solving initiatives first focus on the underlying cause of the problem and then consider who needs to be involved (e.g. local council, trading standards, highways departments, schools etc) to resolve the matter. All actions taken are then recorded and reviewed on a regular basis, with the aim of bringing about an effective solution to the problem.
As part of Surrey Police's commitment to the National Policing Pledge, we will ensure that updates on progress regarding Neighbourhood Issues. will be posted onto officer's web pages. This means that you can track actions and progress on a regular basis rather than have to wait until the next panel meeting or police forum. Log on to www.surrey.police.uk.
Information provided by Surrey Police.
Bookham and Fetcham Police team contact details
PC 3725 John Hench
Telephone: 0845 125 2222 extension 6858
Mobile: 07967 988660
Website: www.surrey.police.uk
E mail: hench3725gsurrey.pnn.police.uk
What do you think? Tell the editor.
For more local crime news, click here. | | |
| | Prizes galore as Bookham Vision launches assault on local apathy | | |  Prize draw and photograph competition for every local child Pester power will prompt parents to return survey forms, group hopes
June 27, 2009: Bookham's budding paparazzi can kick their careers off to a flying start thanks to Bookham Vision. BV is offering free disposable cameras and a digital camera as prizes in an incentive scheme to encourage parents to return survey forms to the organisation. Children can also win £25 vouchers or a computer games console.
BV's brilliant idea is to harness pester power to get completed surveys back. It is widely distributing competition entry stickers on which Bookham's children, from five to 16 years, fill in their name, age and address. The stickers, one per child, will be available in shops, the library and from local schools.
Every completed survey form returned with one or more stickers attached entitles the children the stickers name to a free disposable camera. These will be delivered to homes after the survey's closing date. The pictures each recipient child takes with the camera of the things they like about Bookham will be entered in a photographic competition.
The takers of the three best photographs, as judged by the Bookham Vision steering committee, will win £25 vouchers. Copyright in all the pictures will belong to Bookham Vision. Information about how and when the photos have to be developed and returned will be provided with the camera.
But there's more. All stickers returned will be separated into two age groups and entered into a prize draw for that age group. The draw will be made at a Bookham Vision event. The five to 11 age group will win one Nintendo DS Lite and two games. The 12 to 16 age group will win a Panasonic Lumix digital camera, and may win a year's free membership at Bookham Camera Club, though this has yet to be confirmed.
All the information about the competition and its rules are on the Bookham Vision website. Good luck to all the young entrants.
Bookham Vision now looks unlikely to distribute its survey before early September. The original plan was to distribute them in July. More detail when it's available.
[] For other Bookham Vision stories, see below, this page.
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| | 'Disappointing' support for Bookham Vision | | |  But strong likes and dislikes emerging 'We hate congestion... but we want more parking!'
April 30, 2009: The Bookham Vision (BV) team has probably another year of work ahead of it, according to chairman Trevor Sokell. But it's already fairly clear what Bookham residents like and don't like about where they live.
The results so far are only an indication, Sokell insists, but in recent presentations to the Bookham Residents' Association AGM and the Residents of Middlemead Estate open evening, both on April 23, it became clear that:
We like:Bookham's shops; Its green areas; The community.
We don't like:Infill development; Congestion in the high street; The lack of parking.
And we would like to see:More buses; Better youth facilities; A one way system.
This is the provisional analysis of the survey forms residents have returned since the project was launched in September last year. Sokell said BV had distributed white survey forms to all of Bookham's 5,000 households in December and green questionnaires to all in February. The team had also held road shows at which they issued post-it note questionnaires. The Bugle also understands that BV questionnaire beer mats are in use in the Royal Oak.
Sokell was disappointed that only 535 survey forms and 635 post-its had been returned. If you're interested in Bookham and care about its future, he said, "Get off your backside" and fill in a form. If you haven't, he suggested, you had to ask yourself whether you cared about Bookham or not.
Provisional though the results may be, however, the broad patterns are clear and unlikely to alter much even if more forms are gathered. Some of the responses are surprising and others clearly contradictory.
The 'no' to the threatened supermarket in Lower Shott, for example, surfaces only as the fifth item on the list of wants, after more restaurants and before better housing planning. Affordable housing and better roads and pavements are level pegging with more school places.
And while many admire Bookham village and its friendliness, a significant number worried about its appearance – particularly graffiti, litter and dog dirt.
More, though, are concerned about congestion, traffic or speeding, which the analysis treats separately. That brings us to the first paradox. Taken together, congestion, traffic and speeding appear to equal the massive concern (33 responses) about infilling – though some respondents may have nominated more than one problem. Add in the numbers concerned about the state of the pavements and the case for better treatment of pedestrians in Bookham is overwhelming.
The paradox, however, is that though 18 respondents worry about congestion, almost as many are worried about parking, the same number worry about the state of the roads, and almost as many fret about the 'squareabout'. Bookham residents seem very car focussed.
These conflicting ideas of what Bookham ought to look like pose a large headache for the next stage, which is to take all the respondents' ideas, and analyse what could be possible. Nicola Reid, who leads BV's social and community working group, says the process will be to identify a number of schemes which the BV team will talk about later in the year.
Reid says it's not possible yet to describe these, but she identified one or two knotty and irreconcileable 'wants' that might arise. "People want free parking," she notes. "But that is immensely complex. A car park costs £100,000 a year to run, and it has to be paid for. Every 50p you put in the box contributes to the total. Without it, the amount has to come from council tax."
The complaint about the lack of public transport is that buses don’t run in the evening or on Sundays. The bus companies may say that's not a commercial proposition for them, says Reid.
And meeting aspirations costs money. For example, the government has said that primary school children should play outside for one hour. Great idea, but one local school has only a patch of mud they can play on. They'll need astroturf or some other suitable surface.
In the next stage it will be up to the community to decide which projects might go ahead, after which the projects have to win support from the community and stakeholders.
Stakeholders? It's management jargon for anyone who might have an interest in the outcomes. That means Bookham residents, councils, the police, utilities, transport organisations, the National Trust, Bookham businesses and their employees, schools, churches, visitors to Bookham, the primary care trust, the housing association, clubs, and so on.
Today's consultation phase lasts until the end of June. The feedback analysis and validation phase will take three further months and presentation of the plan will take another three. After that, the hard work starts to implement the selected projects.About 60 residents are currently working hard to make these dreams come true, says Sokell: "It's not three men and a dog."
To learn more – and to find out how you can help – go to www.bookhamvision.org, click the 'Have your say' button on the right and, if you haven't done it already, complete the feedback form. Then take a look each fortnight to see how things are going.
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| | Triumphant St George's day parade | | |  Spring fun and frolicsApril 24, 2009: Bookham's celebration of St George's day on April 23 was a wild party. The procession kicked off four days of celebration.
Organiser Dwayne Kent, Landlord of the Royal Oak in the high street, led Thursday's parade of children from the Dawnay and Polesden Lacey schools to the Royal Oak car park. There the children, some almost as brightly dressed in red and white as their parents, heard baptist ministers the Rev Steve Elmes and the Rev Mel Commandeur tell them the story of St George and explain its symbolism and meaning.
The Royal Oak hosted a hog roast to launch a four day folk and beer festival. The folk bands on successive nights will be Howling at the Moon, from Dorchester; Chalk and Cheese, from Chertsey; 5th Quarter, from Eastbourne; and Dorchester's Fingers 'n' Fretz. No fewer than 22 different real ales are on tap - while stocks last.
Local postmaster Jatin Patel hosted an Indian barbecue in the Crown car park, and David Smith, who runs the Wishing Well card shop, organised a children's quiz in local shop windows. Winners to be announced.
If you want to know about this or other forthcoming events, phone the Royal Oak on 01372 452533.
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| | Bookham Vision team hits the road | | |  Have your say at local meet-the-people events'Don't let someone else decide what's good for you', says Bookham Vision
March 1, 2009: After a faltering start – or was it a masterly PR stunt? – when Bookham Vision's launch-event tent blew away, this month the team putting together a map for Bookham's future is staging a five-event roadshow at a hall near you.
Bookham Vision's work couldn't be more important. As reported, the village plan it draws up won't have any legal force. But the planning, education, transport, health and other authorities will have to take it into account as the definitive view of the village about what it wants and what it doesn't.
For example, the group's impressive new website asks some key questions you might feel strongly about. Does Bookham need:
[] More play areas
[] Better health provision
[] More or fewer shops
[] More affordable housing, or
[] Speed cameras?
If you have a bee in your bonnet, or even a mild concern, about any of them, or a deep conviction that Bookham's real problem is about none of these but about something else, then it makes no sense, says the group, to "leave it for others to decide what is good for you." If you don't speak up now, you can't complain when the village goes off in some direction you don't like.
The road shows, which have already started, are your chance to tell the drafters of the village plan what you think. The first was on Saturday at Bookham Baptist Church Hall on Lower Road.
Even if you can't get to any of those, send in the reply slip delivered to you before Christmas. Hundreds have already done so, says Bookham Vision, but, "We would like a lot more. Either go to the BV website and click on “Have your say”, or just click on this link. It’s not too late.
The responses so far have been about traffic, parking, the squareabout, infill developments, the condition of the roads and pavements, poor drainage and much more. Many villagers want improved bus services, better youth facilities, cheaper parking, restaurants, a one way system: "It’s all very useful feedback," says BV.
"How do you feel about facilities for children, or for parents with children in Bookham? What would make you spend more time and money in your local shops? What about health service provision – is that good enough? What else would you like to see?
"And if there are things you don’t like, what should we do about them? How do we resolve no more infill developments, with the widespread demand for more affordable housing?"
Roadshow venues – come to the one that suits you
Wednesday 4th March
The Dawnay School (Off the A246, in Griffin Way)
7.00 pm - 9.00 pm
Wednesday 11th March
Eastwick Infants School (Eastwick Drive)
7.00 pm - 9.00 pm
Thursday 12th March
Little Bookham Village Hall (Little Bookham)
7.00 pm - 9.00 pm
Thursday 19th March
Polesden Lacey Infants School (Oakdene Close)
7.00 pm - 9.00 pm
Background note
The Bookham Vision team is working on four main subjects: economy; environment; social and community issues; and transport and access.
Economy
Work group leader Richard Smith.
Covers:
Retail
Public Transport
Hotels and tourism
Services
Catering
License trade
Light industry
People who work in Bookham
Residents who work elsewhere
Locations – commercial, industrial or homeworking
How many Businesses? - What are their needs? - What are the future options?
Environment
Work group leader Chris Wiskin
Covers:
Pollution and tipping
Street lighting
Conservation
Recycling
Landscape protection
Litter and dog mess
Green spaces
Planning
Water courses and drainage
Communication
Protecting wildlife
Social and Community
Work group leader Nicola Reid.
Covers:
Community facilities
Vandalism
Education
Primary health care
Play and recreation
Drugs
Youth facilities
Leisure facilities
Community safety
Law and order
Housing for older people
Affordable housing
Volunteering and citizenship
Community services (advice and help)
Open spaces
Transport and Access
Work group leader Michael Anderson
Covers:
Public Transport
Access routes
Parking
Community Transport
Footpaths
Cycling
Bridleways
Cars
Roads
Convenience
Accessibility
Safety
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| | 'Use your high street – or lose it!', warn Bookham's traders | | |  Shopkeepers plan events to tap into village's new enthusiasmJanuary 26, 2009: As a great man almost said, it's not usually hard to tell the difference between a ray of sunshine and a shopkeeper with a grudge. Oddly, though, the optimism and can-do attitude of some of Bookham's traders would put a spring in anyone's step.
Oddly because their daily diet is the same as everyone else's: bad economic news, rising council tax bills and never-ending intrusive development in and around Bookham's Green Belt – made worse for the traders themselves by the possible arrival of a supermarket that could put a lot of them out of business.
But while others may throw in the towel, David Smith of the Wishing Well card and gift shop, his partner Michelle Hudspith, and Dwayne Kent, landlord of the Royal Oak (pictured right), have no intention of letting Bookham's high street go without a fight. And they say their fellow traders are up for it.
This trio, leading lights in the newly formed Bookham Retail & Business Association (Braba), are convinced of two things. One is that Bookham is one of the best places anywhere to live, work and shop. The other is that, unless the people who live here are very careful, what makes it so special will be gone.
First the good news. Braba was formed partly to support the view Mole Valley set out in its development framework, that it would not allow developments which would harm or alter the vitality and viability of Bookham's high street.
And 'high street' here means Church Road, Grove Corner and Beckley Parade, not just the High Street. Part of what makes it all special, say the three, is that you can buy almost everything you need in the village. Everything on Dwayne's menu uses ingredients bought within a few yards of the Royal Oak, at the baker, the butcher, the fishmonger and the greengrocer.
 Safe environment"I've been in retailing all my life," says Michelle: "Bookham is unique." What makes it so is that 90 per cent of the shops here are independent traders: "It's not something you find in every high street."
And it's safe. Michelle tells of a very young woman who had come into the shop and asked her to recommend a place to eat and drink. She wasn't used to eating out on her own and wanted somewhere friendly. Michelle sent her over to the Royal Oak. She later thanked Michelle for the tip: "You can have a day out here," says Michelle. "You can eat, go shopping, wander about and take a bus back in the afternoon.
"A lot of people move here and never move away," she adds. "Originally I came here for two years." That was over 20 years ago.
For Dwayne, the vigour and and vitality of Bookham's high street isn't just rare in Surrey, it's almost unknown in the UK: "We've got a lovely village, and we ought to keep it. There's a great community feeling here." December's late night opening, for example, "is a fantastic event. This year there was a fantastic atmosphere. It's one night in the year we can all identify with."
Even the estate agents got involved, says David, though nobody suggests they're going to sell a house by offering visitors a glass of wine. Village day (pictured right) is the other big day, and it's getting bigger and better,with more and more visitors every year.
 Development threat a blessing in disguise Expect more such events. Braba and its newly formed committee are thinking hard about ways to tap into the 'vigour and vitality' the developers seem to have inspired in the village's population in its future.
Michelle says the development threat might turn out to be a blessing in disguise: "Since the Lower Shott issue came up there's been a lot more enthusiasm, people are more aware."
David notes that his and Michelle's initial thoughts concentrated just on how to defeat the supermarket: "We were pretty concerned." The Bookham Voice initiative was fine as far as it went, "but who was talking to the business community? Apart from walking into each shop and saying, 'what do you think about that?', there was no channel to get opinion other than this those who shout loudest."
Hence Braba. But now the remit is wider, and more positive than just defeating a supermarket proposal that hasn't yet seen the light of day. Smith and his colleagues are looking for something else to put into the calendar. Earlier this week they met to discuss an event around St George's day. "After all," says Dwayne, "it's an English village," then David has to rein in Dwayne's description of a 10 day festival running through to May Day.
 'Not just commercial' But what might be on the cards is a St George's day parade, with a Maypole at Lower Shott and a barbecue in Church Road. It might not happen this year; the timing looks exceedingly tight, though with these folks you never know. They're also exploring medieval, Victorian and wartime themes. Watch this space.
For now it's 'use it or lose it', they say. Ask Dwayne what his biggest problem is and you get a surprising answer: not rent or council tax, crime or vandalism, but, "People's attitude. There's a lot of people who in 20 years' time will be saying, 'Oh I really miss that high street.' It'll be gone because they didn't use us in the first place while they still have us. It doesn't matter if the rates go up as long as we can generate some money to pay it."
But Dwayne adds, "It's not just a commercial thing. If we get more people to share in that atmosphere we'll all benefit. It's also about putting something back."
What do you think? Tell the editor.
The Royal Oak's Folk and Ale Night is this Saturday. Music on tap from 9pm, nine ales on tap all night and every night. More from Dwayne Kent on 01372 452533.
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| | Traders unite against supermarket threat | | |  New association will promote Bookham's shops and other businessesJanuary 12, 2009: Bookham's businesses have put aside their differences to fight against the threat of a supermarket development at the Grove, Lower Shott.
Agreement in principle to set up the association was reached last Thursday, January 8, when up to 30 local traders met at the Barn Hall to discuss how the they could involve themselves in opposition to the threat of development at Lower Shott. Bookham Residents' Association deputy chairman and chair of the BRA planning sub-committee John Pagella told the traders they would have more influence on this and other matters if they formed an association.
The Bookham Retail & Business Association (Braba) will be chaired by David Smith (pictured with partner Michelle Hudspith) of the Wishing Well card and gift shop in the High Street.
Smith said the association would help traders, "understand what we are up against, and understand how we can make our voice heard properly. As a group you have a stronger voice. We want to know how to put our case together, even though no [planning application] has gone in yet."
The new body may soften rivalries among the 60 shops and other commercial premises in different parts of the village that go back 16 years. They divide into the High Street, Church Street, Lower Shott and Beckley Parade, opposite Downs Way. All were represented at Thursday's meeting. The Church Road traders in particular feel they have always had to play second fiddle to those in the High Street.
Pagella says he advised the traders to take a positive stance by using the newly formed association to promote retailing in Bookham, not just to attack a particular proposal.
What do you think? Tell the editor.
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| | Bookham Vision launch event is blown away | | |  Organisers to restage event early in the new yearDecember 15, 2008: The planned launch event for Bookham Vision on Saturday 13th December was thwarted by Friday night’s weather as the marquee in which it was due to take place blew away. Royal Oak landlord and Bookham Vision team member Dwayne Kent was sleeping in the marquee at the side of his pub as the winds blew up in the middle of the night. "You should have seen me. I nearly took off myself as I was trying to take the roof down" said Dwayne, from whose car park the tent started to depart.
Amid howling wind and torrential rain, Bookham Vision team members helped with the rest of clear up early on Saturday, but were obliged to postpone the event. Nevertheless they set up a small collection point in the pub for visitors to drop off their survey forms. Despite the appalling conditions many people still turned out to do this.
"We’ll repeat the event in the New Year when we’ll be able to tell people about the plan and give initial feedback on the surveys we’re getting in now", said Trevor Sokell, Chairman of the Bookham Vision Steering Committee, "in spite of the weather we still had people coming to give us their views. We now have over 300 completed surveys, and more are still coming through the drop-off points around the village. It shows how important this plan is to the people of Bookham. We need and greatly appreciate the input."
The team are in the process of collating and analysing the thousands of comments in the surveys and hope to report back on these initial views when the event is reconvened in January. Details for that event will be made public as soon as the date and venue are confirmed.
Picture, above right, shows Bookham Vision team members Trevor Sokell, Allan Burney and Nick Applegarth having far too much fun battling against the wind and rain. | | |
| | What's your vision for your community? | | |  Editor's comment: Your chance to shape Bookham's futureThe furore about Bookham's proposed new supermarket has injected new life into the drafting of our 'Village Plan'. With near-magical timing, the threat of development has transformed what looked like a doomed exercise, only dimly relevant to most of Bookham's inhabitants, into a real opportunity for the many who care about our community and its surroundings to take part in shaping its future.
Until the supermarket issue surfaced, the early Village Plan meetings attracted not much more than a dozen local people. Later, when the Lower Shott furore was at its height, meetings won attendances of 50 or so.
Numbers are good, but the task is not easy. As the article below, which the Bugle commissioned from the steering committee, makes clear, drawing up the finished plan will be complicated. Development, and the fear of over-development, is only one part of the jigsaw we need to put together for Bookham's future.
Some of those involved in the task fear that Lower Shott, the issue which caused so many to take an active interest in the Village Plan, may have given rise to false hopes that the plan will see the developers off. It will not. As the Bugle has been at pains to point out, those objecting to any particular development have to prove that that development is against the public interest.
Nor will the Plan have any statutory force. It will be 'a material consideration' in planning terms, meaning that local authorities will have to take it into account. That is all.
But that said, the development issue will form an important part of Bookham Vision's work, and material consideration is better than nothing. It's your village. If development is what worries you, make sure you go to the Vision meetings to make your feelings known. The same applies whether it's education or traffic and road safety that get under your skin. Whatever you like or don't like about this place, now's your chance to influence the blueprint for its shape in years to come. This is important. It matters. Don't let the chance slip by.
Article updated December 4, 2008
 BOOKHAM VISION - HOW YOU CAN BECOME INVOLVEDAs regular visitors to this site will be aware, the Village Plan process for Bookham is under way. We’ve got a steering committee, a sizable army of willing volunteers, and a name –
“Bookham Vision – your voice shaping our future”
The project is divided into a number of areas covering the economy; community and social aspects; the environment; and transport. We are fortunate to have attracted some very well qualified and even expert people in these disciplines onto the steering committee.
Bookham Vision will be a detailed and formal process, carried out on a voluntary basis by well qualified individuals and will be recognised by local government and other agencies. It will collect feedback from the people who live in, work in, or depend on Bookham. It covers all aspects of life in Bookham from schooling to shopping, pubs to parking, and from roads to recycling and recreation.
It also encompasses the views of, and interdependency with, the villages and towns that border Bookham. It will result in a report with specific actions and recommendations for improvement that these agencies can take into consideration in their planning and budgeting processes. Other towns completing Village Plans have gained support for a variety of improvements ranging from small immediate schemes for community facilities, traffic and parking changes, environmental and clean-up campaigns to significant town centre schemes.
We’ve recently received a grant from Mole Valley District Council of £8,000 to help fund the project. Add this to the £5,000 previously granted by Surrey County Council and we now have sufficient of a war chest to proceed full ahead.
Clearly the momentum behind the plan has been provided by the controversial proposals to develop the Lower Shott area. But Bookham Vision is about a whole lot more. “Our mission is to represent the views of the people of Bookham for all aspects of life, including, but definitely not limited to, shopping and housing needs. Key decision making bodies will listen to what we have to say, provided we have the data to back it up, so that should be encouragement for people to contribute to the entire plan,” said Trevor Sokell, chairman of the Bookham Vision steering committee (pictured right). “It’s about what we want, and not just about what we don’t want.”
Right now we’re busily gathering all the publicly available information about Bookham, and maintaining regular contact with those key agencies our plan will be aimed at. Over the next 12 months or so the people of Bookham, including those who run businesses or who work here, can expect to be canvassed in many different ways for their input on life in Bookham today and tomorrow. During that period we’ll provide interim reports on the data gathered to date and seek your feedback.
Look out for us at the Bookham late night shopping event in December, and make a note in your diary to come and see us on the following Saturday, the 13th December at our launch event in the High Street between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm. You’ll be able to hear more about the plan process, meet the Bookham Vision team, and importantly give us your initial views on what you like, dislike and wish for in Bookham – a chance to have your say.
We’re here for you, and dependent on you to voice your opinions. We’ll give you plenty of opportunity to do that, so watch this space. In the meantime, please feel free to email or call Trevor Sokell (trevorsokell@ukf.net, 01372 452052) or Nick Applegarth (nick.applegarth@btinternet.com, 01372 458456) if you have any questions or comments, or if you’d like to help. | | |
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